Cinco de Mayo is tomorrow!  And it even falls on a Saturday this year!  Sounds like a good day to enjoy good Mexican food, Mexican beer, and Mexican cocktails to me! 

We enjoyed a relaxing Saturday afternoon with another family last weekend and made this dish for our dinner.  The biggest effort required for this one is the cutting!   We served this with pico de gallo, guacamole, and grated queso fresco.  I have learned to not use a hand grater on the queso fresco, I can’t seem to manage that without tiny crumbles of cheese going everywhere. I get out a small food processor and throw it in there – much easier!  .

Grilled Chicken and Skirt Steak Fajitas
Serves 4-6

1 1/4 pounds skirt steak
2 1/2 pounds chicken breasts
Handful of cilantro, chopped
2 limes, juiced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon cumin
Salt
Pepper
1 beer
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 red bell peppers, 2 yellow bell peppers, 2 orange bell peppers
2 onions

For Serving:

Warmed tortillas
Guacamole
Pico de Gallo
Sour Cream
Queso Fresco, grated

Special Equipment Used:

Grill basket – something that looks like this:

Combine the cilantro, lime juice, olive oil, cumin, salt, pepper beer, liquid smoke, and garlic in a bowl to make the marinade.

Put the skirt steak in a large, zip top bag and add half of the marinade.  Put the chicken in another large, zip top bag and the other half of the marinade. 

Zip up the bags and mix the meat around in the marinade.  Refrigerate for at least 6 hours and up to overnight. 

Slice your bell peppers and onions so that they are thin strips.  This can be done ahead of time and they can be stored in a zip top bag in the refrigerator until you are ready to grill. 

When you are ready to cook, take the meat out of the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature while your grill is heating. 

Once the grill is hot, add the chicken breasts and put the sliced bell peppers/onions into the grill basket.  Grill your chicken breasts until they are cooked through. This will take 6-8 minutes each side.  Continue to keep an eye on your peppers and onions – stir frequently.  Remove the chicken breasts to a cutting board and cover with foil to keep warm. 

Next, add the skirt steak to the grill – this will not take long to cook, and if you overcook it, it will be tough.  Grill 3-4 minutes per side for rare, 1-2 minutes longer for medium.  Once done, remove to a cutting board and cover with foil. 

Your bell peppers and onions should be about done at this point – remove to a bowl and cover with foil to keep warm. 

Now onto the slicing of the meat!  Cut the chicken breasts into thin slices and do the same with the skirt steak. 

This is now ready to serve.  One step we have added to this is heating up a griddle and “sizzling” the meat and bell peppers/onions for a few minutes before adding it to our tortillas.  Certainly not a requirement, but when you go back for your 2nd or 3rd helping, it is a nice touch to warm the meat again! 

Top with cheese, guacamole, pico de gallo and sour cream.  Roll up the tortilla and enjoy!